Leadership Team’s Special Project

For their capstone project, a team of students from the Lee College of Engineering’s Leadership Academy designed, raised money for and built a sports training facility for special needs students to use in practicing for the Special Olympics.

Calling themselves Team Destiny, students Brian Conrad, Tarma Fontaine, Kaitlyn Hamrick,

Joseph Royer and Parita Vakharia took on the project for Ranson Middle School of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School system. The completed training area included a bocce ball court, a soccer field to learn dribbling and other skills, and a shot putt area.

“The special needs classes at Ranson didn’t have a place to practice for the Special Olympics,” said team member Parita Vakharia. “Our team decided that building one would be a great community project.”

Ranson Middle School provided the land and the team raised about $5,000 for materials. They secured work contributions from contractors to help with surveying, bull dozer work and other landscaping. Team members also put in a lot of their own time and effort with shovels and wheel barrows to build the facility.

“It was really rewarding,” Vakharia said. “We went back after it was done and got to see the kids practicing. They were having a great time and the teachers were really excited to have their own space. And at the Special Olympics every one of the kids won a medal, so that was cool.”

The Lee College of Engineering Leadership Academy is a two year, extra-curricular program. It prepares undergraduates to successfully fulfill leadership roles on campus and in engineering industry by building their leadership abilities. The final phase of the academy is a hands-on capstone experience where student teams design and implement a community service project. Industry professionals serve as mentors as teams navigate the challenges of creating high impact projects.